Flavobacterium naphthae sp nov., isolated from oil-contaminated soil

During a study of petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, a yellow-coloured, Gram-stain-negative, non-motile and rodshaped bacterium, designated strain Brt-M-T, was isolated from oil-contaminated soil of Biratnagar, Morang, Nepal. Strain Brt-M-T was able to grow at 15-45 degrees C, pH 5.0-9.0 and 0-1% (w/v) NaCl concentration. The strain was characterized by multiple taxonomic approaches. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain Brt-M-T belonged to the genus Flavobacterium and shared highest sequence similarity with Flavobacterium cloacae wh15(T) (95.69 %) and Flavobacterium anatoliense MK3(T) (94.91 %). The only respiratory quinone was MK-6; the major polar lipid was phosphatidylethanolamine; and the predominant fatty acids were iso-C-15:0, summed feature 9 (iso-C-17:1 omega 9c and/or C(16:0)10-methyl), iso-C-17:0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (C-16:1 omega 7c and/or C-16:1 omega 6c). The DNA G+C content was 37.2 mol%. The morphological, physiological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses clearly distinguished this strain from its closest phylogenetic neighbours. Thus, strain Brt-M-T represents a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium naphthae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Brt-M-T (=KEMB 9005-692(T)=KACC 19393(T)=JCM 32171(T)).